Chapter 11

Harry knew that he should have been concerned about this raced investigation he was in but his new friendship with Draco made him forget about it. They had more in common than their goal to get Riddle in jail. They both liked football, comic books and crime shows.

But both had to keep their friendship a secret. Draco was still spying on his father and Riddle. Friendly meetings inside the school had become dangerous since a fourth of the students and parents worked for Riddle. Draco even had to be careful in writing to Harry as they exchanged e-mails addresses.

"Do you have to be friends with him," asked Ron at another study session. Harry only looked up at him from is chemistry homework. Of course he had told Ron and Hermione about his truce with Draco. Hermione was in agreement but Ron was disapproving of Draco's sincere motive for a friendship with the trio. He thought Draco was concocting some vindictive evil scheme to embarrass them.

"We're not friends, Ron, just colleagues," said Harry writing on the chemistry worksheet.

"Sounds an awful lot like friendship to me. "

"Well, I think it's amicable," said Hermione. Ron looked at Harry in confusion.

"Characterized for friendship and good will," said Harry. "I'm getting you a dictionary."

"Why? I have her." Ron pointed at Hermione and Hermione hit him with a notebook. "Sorry."

Harry smiled and returned to his homework, nibbling at the end of a pizza. It had been almost a week since he and Draco became somewhat friends and both easily made a method to talk to each other in school. Both agreed that if they needed something important they would text each other.

"So do you think that social worker will get that hearing?" asked Ron.

"If she had her way, yes," said Harry. "And she doesn't look like a woman who takes no for an answer."

"Maybe her superiors will force her to leave you alone," said Hermione hopefully.

"A drive-by isn't exactly rare and the only person who knew that we were there was Tom and Fletcher."

"Do you think one of them told," asked Ron.

"Oh yeah," said Harry sarcastically, "right along with Tom giving drinks to minors and me paying Fletcher his bar bills."

"So I'm not Sherlock Holmes but I'm trying."

"We know, Ron," said Hermione giving Harry a look. Harry turned quickly back to his paper. "And we appreciate it. And this isn't a murder case, guys. They'll review the case, only ask Harry some questions and everything will be back to normal."

"But what about Malfoy," asked Harry. "If they start asking what I was doing that night, I have to tell them I was with him."

"Say you were with us," said Ron. "Hermione and I were at the movies that night. You can say you went with us." Harry and Hermione looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"You want us to falsify evidence?" asked Hermione. "That's criminal!"

"So are they if they send Harry back there," said Ron. "We'll never see him again if they have their way."

"But we can't…"

"I'll do it," said Harry. "Malfoy can't be exposed in any way, and we spend so much time together already that no one would question it if I had gone to the cinema with you."

"Harry!"

"All right," said Ron. "We have a plan."

"No we don't," said Hermione. "We can't falsify evidence. We'd go to jail!"

"We're not going to jail," said Harry. "Not if we play our cards right."

Hermione looked between her boyfriend and best friend. Both wore expression that said they weren't budge from their decision. Hermione huffed.

"Fine," she said crossing her arms. "But I won't like it."

XXXXXXXX

Draco walked up as Harry walked in. Since learning about Harry's relatives he was more angry then jumpy and it was obvious to everyone around him. The only person he wasn't angry with was Harry. It wasn't his fault Harry had crappy family, Draco had them too.

He still couldn't believe that people would treat a defenseless child liked that. Harry hadn't done anything to them by being dumped on their doorstep as a baby. And now a woman was planning to send him back there. Not if Draco could help it.

Draco jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Still jumpy I see," said Blaise sitting down next to him.

"Stow it, Blaise," said Draco his eyes staying on Harry.

"What's up with you, Draco," asked Blaise. "Ever since you said no to sex with me you've been down lately." He looked over at where Draco was glaring. "Did Potter do something to you?"

"What?" asked Draco in confusion before he recovered. "No. No, Potter didn't do anything. I'm angry at something else."

"What?"

"Stuff it," said Draco playfully shoving his friend. Snape started the lesson and they gave the teacher their undivided attention.

XXXXXXXX

Harry sighed as he walked through the doors to the hearing room. He didn't want to go through the stupid meeting but he knew that he had to. Sirius was standing next to him so he could give his statements.

The hearing room was small with only two desks, a few pews and a judge's desk. Umbridge and a man was who was slightly pudgy and balding spoke in whispers. Harry's relatives sat off to the side, looking like they wished to be anywhere but where they were right then. Harry felt the same about them.

"After five years I'm seeing them again," said Harry heatedly.

"And for the last time," said Sirius. "The hearing's just a short formality."

"Who's the portly guy?"

"Cornelius Fudge. He's helping Umbridge on the case. Not a nice person. Power hungry and will do anything he can to keep the people he thinks of as violent off the streets, which includes law enforcement officers."

Harry chuckled. "Then he'd be out of the job," he said and Sirius chuckled with him.

Harry was surprised to see Remus and Tonks sitting on their side of the court room, Kingsley and, surprisingly enough, Moody was there as well. They were talking among themselves and smiled when they saw Harry and Sirius.

"What are you doing here," he asked.

"You'd think I'd let my adopted cousin go into the battle field without backup?" asked Tonks.

"Oi, what am I, chopped liver," asked Sirius and everyone laughed. Harry looked over to see his aunt and uncle look at him disapprovingly and his cousin glaring at him.

"Where's my councilor?" asked Harry.

"Over there." Sirius pointed to a broad square jawed woman with short grey hair and she wore a pair of small round glasses. She smiled as Harry approached her.

"Amelia Bone," she said holding her hand out to him. "I'll be your councilor for the hearing."

"Harry Potter, your victim." Miss. Bones laughed and Harry was glad to see it was a real one. "Are you related to Susan Bones?"

"Oh, you know my niece?" said Miss. Bones in surprise. "She did mention a Harry in her class."

"Yeah, that would be me," said Harry smiling and Miss. Bones smiled back.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter."

A guard walked in to announce the judge.

"All rise for the honorable judge Anne Stewart," he said and all rose as a woman with graying blonde hair and a kind face walked in.

"Please be seated," she said and smiled kindly at Harry. "Mr. Potter, please take the stand."

Harry looked between Sirius and Ms. Bones before walking up to the seat beside the judge.

"Hello, Harry, how are you today?" asked Judge Stewart.

"I'm fine, your honor," said Harry. "Just wishing I wasn't here right now."

"I know how you feel, Mr. Potter," said Judge Stewart. "I hate these custody hearings." She shuffled through the file on her desk before she found the page she wanted and read it. "It says here that you are currently under the custody of Special Agent Sirius Black. Is that correct?"

"Yes, your honor," said Harry.

"And how is that holding up? Do you like living with Agent Black?"

Harry studied Judge Anne Stewart before answering. She was a nice woman; his own intuition told him that. She didn't have a cruel look to her or in her eyes. She generally wanted to connect with Harry, to see if he was a troubled child like the file most likely says, or if he was just any other teenager.

"Yes, ma'am. Sirius has been a great role model for me. He never pushes me away when I need him and listens to me when I am troubled."

"Great, Mr. Potter. That's wonderful to hear." She read another page. "Has Agent Black ever taken his work home with him?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, what do you mean by that?" asked Harry in confusion.

"Has Agent Black even broken down around you because of a difficult case? Has he talked to you about them?"

"I have never asked Sirius about his cases," said Harry. "If he wanted to talk to someone, he has friends on the force that he can talk to." He heard someone clearing his throat and looked over to see Umbridge and Fudge sitting forward with slight smiles of their faces. "Sirius has never hurt me!"

"I didn't say he did," said Judge Stewart. "I was just wondering why a young man like yourself would turn into a troubled person in such a short time."

"Your honor, if I may speak," said Fudge and Judge Stewart nodded. "According to the files, Mr. Potter has always been a trouble child."

"But he has never done anything against the law," said Judge Stewart. "Mr. Potter, have you been involved in a drive-by shooting on October thirty-first at nine o'clock pm by Mongolia Crescent and Winchester?"

'How do they know when it was,' thought Harry before answering. "Yes, ma'am."

"Can you explain what had happened that night?"

Harry sighed and repeated the story he thought of. "Two of my friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, invited me to join them in watching a movie that had just come to theater," he said silently thanking himself for parking near the cinema that night. "We had just gotten out of the theater when a car drove by and opened fired."

"And you were wounded?" asked Judge Stewart looking at Harry's arm and Harry nodded.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Mr. Fudge, I believe you wanted to question the young man?"

"Yes, ma'am, we do," said Fudge walking up to Harry. Harry's eyes narrowed at the sneer on Fudge's face. "Mr. Potter, you say that you enjoy living with Officer Black. How so?"

"It's Agent Black, Mr. Fudge," said Harry, emphasizing Sirius's title. "And like I said, he listens to me and encourages me. He taught me how to keep myself safe and trusts me to take care of myself."

"How to protect yourself? Like martial arts? Handling a gun?"

"Objection, your honor," said Ms. Bones. "What does this prove?"

"I agree, Mr. Fudge," said Judge Stewart. "What does it prove?"

"Only that Officer Black had taught this young boy to expect danger in a world where there is none. Our informant tells us that Potter has been to the station's shooting range once a week as well as practices the martial arts. Officer Black encourages the boy to take up a violent career."

"Mr. Fudge, my husband is a cop and has taught our sons how to handle a gun," said Judge Stewart. "And if there were no violence in the world, then you and I would be out of a job. I really don't see the sense in your accusation."

"I mean no disrespect to you, your honor, only that Officer Black is clearly not a sufficient role model."

"I believe you made your point," said Judge Stewart, only half believing him and slightly irritated. "Take a seat. Ms. Bones, you may question your charge."

"Thank you, your honor," said Ms. Bones and walked up to Harry. "Harry, you say that Agent Black has always been there for you. Can you give us an example?"

"Last year, I attended a summer camp at a ranch in Montana. While on cattle drive I had fallen off my horse and broke my leg. Sirius drove from New York where he was working a case at the time to Montana to be with me."

"Have the Dursley's ever done that for you? Just drop everything and rush to your side?"

Harry shook his head. "No, they had hardly let me out of the house."

"And why is that?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I had thought they were ashamed of me, or that they hated me."

"Why would they be ashamed of you?" asked Ms. Bones.

"They didn't want me," said Harry. "They saw me as a burden."

"Why would they think that?"

Harry shrugged. "Ask them."

Ms. Bones smiled at him. "Thank you, Harry. That is all, you honor."

"Thank you, Harry, you may step down," said Judge Stewart and looked at Fudge. "Have you anyone else?"

"Yes, your honor," said Fudge. "I call Dudley Dursley to the chair."

Judge Stewart nodded and Dudley walked up and sat on the chair. It creaked under his weight but held.

"Dudley, you grew up with Potter here, is that correct?" asked Fudge.

"That's right," said Dudley a little too confidently for Harry's liking.

"Can you describe the boy you grew up with?"

"Brash, arrogant, usurped authority whenever he could…."

'Big words, even for him,' thought Harry as he glared at his cousin.

"And always demanded his way," finished Dudley.

"Was Potter prone to acts of recklessness to gain attention?" asked Fudge.

"Oh, yeah, all the time."

"So, Potter hasn't changed at all?"

"No, sir," said Dudley with a small shake of his head. Harry could see a small smirk on his cousin's face.

"No more question," said Fudge and sat down.

"Ms. Bones?" asked Judge Stewart.

"No questions, your honor," said Ms. Bone and Judge Stewart nodded for Dudley to sit down. Judge Stewart looked between the groups, reminding Harry of Hermione studying a text book.

"I don't know which of you is lying," she said after a while. "And my file tells me two sides of the same coin. I feel like I'm in a soap box." She paused for a moment before continuing. "But I do know one thing. This man's future is on the line and if it were up to me we wouldn't even be here, but my superiors say otherwise."

She turned to Harry. "I know you don't want this, and Agent Black seems like a great guy, but I have to think on this carefully. For one week, you will be under the protective custody of Vernon and Petunia Dursley…."

"What?!" said Harry standing out of his chair so fast it flew to the floor.

"Pending the ruling I will give in that time," she said and struck her gravel.

"Sirius!" Harry turned to his godfather with a frightened look. He could see the angry worried looks of the rest of his adult friends.

"Don't worry, Harry," said Ms. Bones. "I'll talk to her."

And she left, following Judge Stewart to her chambers. Sirius turned to glare at the Dursley's before turning to Harry.

"I'll fix this, Harry," he said. "I promise."

"I can't go back there," said Harry. "They'll kill me!"

"No, they won't. They can't try anything while on trial."

"Potter," said Vernon. "Get over here, boy!"

Harry gave Sirius one last longing look before following the Dursleys out. Sirius let out an angry yell and slammed his fist on the desk.

XXXXXXXX

"I can't believe they forced him to live in that hell hole," growled Ron. "They're not even letting him come to school."

"They won't even let Sirius contact him," said Hermione. "They say it will compromise Harry's decision."

"All we want to know is if he's okay."

"Oh, Ron…"

Draco kept his head down and pretended to reread his work sheet for the fiftieth time. For the past few days Harry had refrained from coming to school and no one close to him had even been able to see him, nor do they know where to look. It had been going around the school that Harry was being protected against the verdict made by the judge but anyone who knew Harry knew better.

"Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, please see me after class," said Snape as the bell rang. Both looked at each other in surprise when putting away their books. Draco hurried to get out of the room.

"Hey, Draco, dude, wait for me," called Blaise just out of the classroom. Draco stopped and waited for Blaise to catch up. "Dude, did you hear about Potter?"

"Yes, I know about the so called protection he's in," said Draco continuing to walk down the hall.

"No, not that," said Blaise waving his hand in emphasis. "This is something new. Something only a select few know about. Nott told me."

Draco groaned. "Blaise, you know that if Nott isn't stoned he's high and if he isn't high he's drunk. The guy is his own pharmacy on illegal drugs. You can't trust anything he says."

"But I also heard it from Flint, Bulstrode and Montague. Potter is staying at his relatives, permanently."

Draco stopped and stared at Blaise in shock, not noticing that the book he held in his arms fell to the floor. "What?"

This time Blaise had the look of surprise. "Didn't you know? Your father had paid a high up judge to get Potter out of the way. I thought you knew. Hey, Draco!"

Draco didn't hear his friend's shout for him. He was running down the hall back toward the Chemistry classroom as soon as he heard about his father come out of Blaise's mouth. He found Ron and Hermione just getting out of the classroom.

"Weasel, Granger, wait up," he called and both stopped in their tracks.

"What do you want, Malfoy," asked Ron. "Come to gloat on Harry not being around?"

"Hardly," said Draco standing in front of them and crossing his arms. "I was wondering if you still wanted Potter back."

Both looked at him in surprise.

XXXXXXXX

Harry stared up at the ceiling as he lay on his bed. After returning from the hearing the Dursleys threw Harry into the spare bedroom and locked the door from the outside, preventing Harry from leaving. They took away all of Harry's connection to the outside world, forbade him from using the home phone and computer, locking him in the room and only letting him out to use the bathroom. The only thing they didn't take from him was his father's pocket knife and that was because Harry hid it in his shoe.

Harry had lived in the spare bedroom once from the age of eleven to thirteen. It was little less messy then, easier to keep clean and a lot less boxes. Now the boxes stacked to Harry's chin and shelves full of books or knickknacks Dudley either broken or didn't want. Broken electronics piled around the walls and not a single movie or game in sight.

Sighing Harry stood and took down a book from the shelf. It was a horror novel that Dudley had received on one of his previous birthdays when Harry was living with Sirius. Dudley, who never read anything larger than a comic book, discarded it as soon as he got it. Sighing again, Harry sat down on the bed to read, ignoring the growling from his stomach.

The Dursley's had feed him no more than once a day since his arrival, and no more then burnt toast. The only time he could get a drink of water was when he was going to the bathroom and that was from the faucet, and even that didn't satisfy him, but it was better than being dead.

"Boy," bellowed Vernon on the other side of the door. Harry sighed as he read the book. It was a very entertaining and captivating story.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," said Harry. He knew Vernon lived to terrorize him, but Harry wasn't easily terrorized.

"Dudley's match is tonight. You are not to leave your room…."

"Like I have a choice," muttered Harry under his breath. "You padlocked the door."

"Not to eat our food…."

"Why order that if I'm not allowed to leave me room?"

"Or answer the door."

"Again, pointless."

"Stay in your room and don't make a sound."

"And who would be able to hear me," finished Harry as Vernon walked away. Not caring Harry went back to the book, trying to ignore his growling stomach.

Twenty minutes later he put the book down with a groan. His stomach was growling so hard he could feel it rumbling. He considered going to sleep but both his stomach and his head ached. He half worried that he wouldn't wake if he did.

CRASH

"OW!"

Harry bolted upright on his bed, half fearing a robber had gotten in the house and he only had his pocket knife. But it was better than nothing. Reaching in his shoe he pulled it out and unlocked the blade, ready to throw or stab if necessary. After a few minutes he could hear arguing on the other side of the door.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked one.

"Back off, you git. I learned this from my brothers," said another voice.

"And you trust them?"

"Hush, you two. Let's just get this lock open."

Harry mouth gapped when he recognized the voices. Closing his knife he slipped it into his pocket and went to the door.

"Ron? Hermione?"

"Hi, Harry," said both of his friends.

"What am I, chopped liver," asked Draco.

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?"

"Saving you, obviously."

"Who the bloody hell puts a dead bolt on a bedroom door?" asks Ron.

"The Dursleys," said Hermione. The lock clicked and Ron cheered as he opened the door.

"Miss us?" he asked and Harry smiled.

"You have no idea how much," said Harry. "Thanks, guys." And he hugged Hermione, clapped Ron on the shoulder gratefully and held his hand out to Draco. "Thanks, Malfoy."

"School was boring without you," said Draco shaking Harry's hand. "Besides, I still need a baby-sitter."

"Does that game console work?" asked Ron pointing to a discarded electronic. Harry saw it as a new series that came out a not long ago. "Fred and George can find someone who would kill to have one."

"If it still works," said Harry and Ron grabbed the electronic.

"Come on, Harry," said Hermione. "Let's get your stuff and get out of here."

"Sure, just one thing," said Harry and all three looked at him anxiously. "Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving."

All four laughed, grabbed Harry's bags and left the house with promises of stopping at the nearest restaurant.

TBC